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NY-26 SPECIAL ELECTION SPENDING HEATS UP: With a competitive three-way special election just two weeks away in the New York 26th Congressional District, the big-spending conservative super PAC American Crossroads is stepping into the action. On Tuesday, American Crossroads announced that it would invest at least $350,000 for television and online advertisements designed to aid the Republican candidate in the race, Jane Corwin. The group’s move prompted the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to make a $250,000 media buy of its own, Talking Points Memo reported. A Democratic-aligned super PAC formed earlier this year — known as the House Majority PAC — also said it would be “keeping very close tabs on this race,” although it has not yet committed any cash of its own.

Corwin is running to represent a district where President George W. Bush beat Democrat John Kerry by 12 percentage points in 2004 and where Republican John McCain bested Barack Obama by 6 percentage points in 2008. The face also features Democrat Kathy Hochul and Democrat-turned-Tea Party candidate Jack Davis. (Notably, Davis is a wealthy factory owner from upstate New York who and a three-time congressional candidate who successfully sued the Federal Election Commission to overturn the so-called Millionaires’ Amendment. Read more here from OpenSecrets Blog about that case, which was settled by the U.S. Supreme Court in Davis’ favor in 2008.) Slate’s Dave Weigel rounds up here the latest advertisements each of the campaigns have made in the race.

Super PACs, unlike traditional political action committees, are allowed to raise unlimited contributions from individuals, unions and corporations. Traditional PACs are not allowed to accept money from corporate or union general treasuries and also rely on limited contributions of $5,000 per year from donors. In exchange of unlimited fund-raising powers, super PACs cannot directly donate to candidates; instead, they fund independent expenditures — advertisements, such as these new TV ads in New York, that expressly advocate for or against a candidate.

Cravaack may be one of the most vulnerable freshmen Republicans. President Barack Obama carried his district by 9 percentage points in 2008, and Democrat John Kerry won the district by 7 percentage points in 2004. Already, Minnesota Republican lawmakers are hoping to use the redistricting process to put Cravaack in more favorable territory — but it’s unclear if Minnesota’s Democratic governor will agree to their plan.

Over the weekend, Clark announced that she and her husband had purchased a condo in Duluth, Minn., currently part of Cravaack’s district, and that she would begin campaigning against him. (The Clarks will also continue to retain a home in St. Cloud, Minn., which is currently part of Bachmann’s district.)

“There’s too much at stake to sit on the sidelines,” Clark said in an email to supporters on Sunday. “I am honored by the support I have received from people across the 8th [Congressional] District who have encouraged me to run for Congress.”

WILL FEC ALLOW ANONYMOUS FACEBOOK ADS? Federal campaign finance laws require most campaign advertisements to include a disclaimer about who is funding them. But there are several exceptions for “small items upon which the disclaimer cannot be printed” and for other mediums where “the inclusion of a disclaimer would be impracticable.” Thus, bumper stickers, pins, buttons, pens, skywriting, water towers, t-shirts and text messages are not required to include any language about how paid for them. Last October, the Federal Election Commission extended this exception from disclaimer rules to political committees that purchase ads tied to Google search terms. And now, Facebook is seeking the FEC’s approval to likewise be except from disclosure and disclaimer rules for the small ads the company integrates into Facebook members’ online experiences.

The legal counsel retained by Facebook for this endeavor is Perkins Coie, the legal powerhouse retained by the Democratic National Committee, as well as several other Democrats, including the presidential campaign of Barack Obama during the 2008 elections. Specifically, Perkins Coie attorneys Marc Elias, Rebecca Gordon and Jonathan Berkon are advocating on Facebook’s behalf.

In a 14-page letter to the FEC, Facebook’s lawyers argue that regulations must have a careful balance between the government’s interest in “providing the electorate with information about the sources of election-related spending” and the fact that “under some circumstances, ‘disclaimer and disclosure requirements may burden the ability to speak'” — a specific reference to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission in January 2010 that ushered in unlimited corporate and union independent expenditures.

“In Facebook’s standard ad, the sponsor is provided with 25 characters to utilize the ad’s title and 135 characters in the ad’s body,” it continues. “Disclaimers typically run from 30 to 100 characters, though they may be even longer for some committees… Facebook is not asking the Commission to carve out an exemption for all online ads; it is simply asking the Commission to apply the ‘small items’ and ‘impracticability’ exceptions to its ads.”

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